The patient had a flat affect throughout the therapy session. It doesn’t come up that often in general conversation or general-interest writing. Affect as a nounĪffect as a noun has a specific psychological meaning: what can be observed about someone’s feelings orc emotional response. This sense of the word is probably most familiar today in its adjective form, affected -meaning pretentious, artificial, or designed to impress. Affect as a verb: another meaningĪffect can also mean to put on an act or to pretend to feel or be a certain way. For the verb effect, the direct object is the thing being brought about-in this case, change. For the verb affect, the direct object is the thing being impacted or influenced. In other words, the protesters wanted to bring about the effect of change-maybe by getting the government to change its policies or step down. The protesters wanted to effect change in the corrupt government. It usually shows up with a noun like change or solutions as a direct object. Effect as a verbĮffect as a verb means to directly bring about some result. Now that you’ve mastered the difference between affect and effect as they are most often used let’s go over the less common ways these words come up. NHS inform, “Antibiotics” Synonyms of effect The most common side effects of antibiotics affect the digestive system.

StudySmarter, “Human Impact on Climate Change”Īnd the bell had the effect of releasing us all from the paralyzing tension we had just survived-but for only an instant.- John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany Humans can reduce the effects of climate change on the environment by signing international treaties to address climate change, pledging carbon neutrality, and switching to renewable energy, electric cars and plant-based diets. Tina’s big win had an effect on her overall confidence level. You’ll feel the effect of the medication in the next twenty minutes. So not only does a cause lead to an effect, but also cause ’s e leads to effect ’s e, giving you a handy way to remember which spelling to use.The effect of the tornado was devastating. Cause ends with an e, and effect begins with an e. Here’s a tip: Think of the common phrase cause and effect. In this case, affect would mean to improve. That list should affect your understanding of the word. When a person is affected by an event, that often means that the effect is on the level of emotion or psychology. Note that in that last example, the men are affected because they are changed by the disturbing events of war, but that this change has an emotional factor too. Love to Know, “How Does Language Affect Culture? Explaining the Connection”Īnd we could do nothing to help them Dunham was crying quietly beside me, and all the men were affected by the piteous cries.- Edwin Campion Vaughan Some Desperate Glory: The Diary of a Young Officer, 1917 The influence of language is intertwined with its culture and provides a sense of stability and continuity among a group of people. It is only by understanding how language can affect culture that you can learn the best way to use language when communicating with a different culture. , “The Effects of Mass & Distance on Gravity” Gravity affects everything in the universe, but the amount of gravity affecting an object depends on two things: the masses of the objects being attracted and the distance between the objects. Winning the swimming medal affected Tina’s performance in school. The medicine will affect your eyesight for at least an hour. The tornado affected citizens within forty miles of Topeka. Affect starts with an a, and it’s a verb. Some other examples of similar-sounding (and sometimes confusing ) words that people tend to mix up are flaunt / flout, assure/ensure/insure, and advice/advise. Part of the reason that affect as a verb and effect as a noun are so easy to confuse is the fact that (at least in spoken American English) they sound almost identical. The result, or effect, of that verb is wetness, a noun that is probably causing Raphael a whole lot of discomfort. Raphael getting wet is the effect of Ruby’s act.īecause Ruby performed an action, that signals the use of the verb: affect. In other words, imagine Ruby (A) pushes Raphael (B) into a pond.

In the majority of cases, you’ll encounter the verb affect and the noun effect in closely related scenarios having to do with actions and their consequences: If A affects B, B experiences the effect of A’s action. The most powerful effect of rain is that plants grow faster. While both refer to consequences and results, the difference between affect versus effect is their word class. The word affect is a verb, used as an action, and the word effect is a noun, used as a thing.

Let’s end the affect versus effect debate once and for all. Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly The difference between affect and effect

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